Karmic Nod YKTTW Discussion

Laser-Guided Karma can be hard to accept if you are on the receiving end of it. Sometimes, however, a character who has committed anything from a minor misdeed to outright villainy shows a surprising stroke of humility and wisdom in the face of misfortune, and openly (verbally or non-verbally) accepts that it is a fair retribution.

The experience of this karmic retribution may also be sufficiently harrowing to the character to bring about an upheaval and of their self-image and priorities, eventually leading to acceptance and a change of heart. In this case, the trope may coincide with Redemption Equals Affliction and/or The Atoner.

Simply being made aware of receiving karmic retribution is not sufficient for this trope; the character must be shown to resign himself or herself to it.

Examples

In Drive Angry Milton acknowledges that he has done some very bad things in his life and deserved going to Hell after death.

In The Green Mile, Paul Edgcomb accepts that even though he doesn't want to, he will live long enough to experience a lot more sorrow and loss, as a punishment for unwillingly executing John Coffey.

Paul: Elaine — you'll die, too. And my curse is knowing that I'll be there to see it. It's my atonement, you see — it's my punishment for lettin' John Coffey ride the lightning. For killing a miracle of God. You'll be gone like all the others, and I'll have to stay. Oh, I'll die eventually; of that, I'm sure. I have no illusions of immortality. But I will have wished for death long before Death finds me. In truth, I wish for it already.

In Machete, Machete disposes of one of the main bad guys. When the dying villain asks where his wife and daughter are, Machete replies "with God" (they're actually in a church). He laments that he won't be seeing them again, clearly accepting where he'll be going instead after all his crimes.

In Nine Dead, nine people are locked up in a room by a mysterious captor and told to figure out what brought them there or he'll kill one of them every ten minutes.

Coogan admits that he's a child molester, and the others say that he deserves to die for his crimes. He's self aware enough to admit that's probably true, but asks the others what they did to deserve a death sentence, leaving them wondering.

When the captor kills one of the prisoners, the prisoner taunts him with a See You in Hell boast. The captor simply replies "I know".

At the end of The Departed, Colin Sullivan's reaction to his imminent death is a resigned "Okay."

Literature

In Brilliance of the Moon from Tales of the Otori, Kenji submits that losing his daughter was his punishment for betraying Takeo and Shigeru, the latter to his death.

In The Red Lion, Cornelius calmly accepts that Ernst is about to come and kill him, in the same way that his previous incarnation killed Rochard.

In The Two Towers, a dying Boromir confesses his failure to Aragorn, and how he "has paid" for it with his life.

Boromir: I tried to take the Ring from Frodo. I am sorry. I have paid.

In Doctor Who "The Impossible Astronaut" after River Song sees the Doctor do something terrible, she runs into his 200-year younger self (time travel and all) and slaps him hard.

Doctor: OK. I'm assuming that's for something I haven't done yet.

River: Yes, it is.

Doctor: Good, looking forward to it.

Angel, "Damage:" Spike runs into a psychotic Slayer who cuts his hands off, believeing him to be the man who had killed her family and kidnapped her when she was a little girl. He takes it philosophically.

Discussed by the wise guys in The Sopranos. Cristopher is conflicted because when he nearly died he had a dream where he found himself in Hell, but Paulie corrects him and claims that he was in Purgatory. He further states that they'll probably have to spend several hundred years in torment for their crimes before going to Heaven, highlighting how the mobsters still fundamentally see themselves as good guys.

In the Babylon 5 TV movie In the Beginning Londo comments that he knows his sins, and the price he will eventually pay for them.

Contrast his attitude there with himself years earlier. Keep in mind this is after he's pretty much started a couple of wars.

Londo: The Universe hates me for some reason. I do not know why, I have not done anything to the Universe. (Nearby, G'Kar rolls his eyes) Alright, maybe a few things, but after a while you would think it would be enough!

From Oscar Wilde's Lady Windermere's Fan, Mrs Erlynne considers herself punished once again for her behavior when she was younger, by having to observe her daughter do the same.

Mrs Erlynne: (reading a letter) Oh, how terrible! The same words that twenty years ago I wrote to her father! and how bitterly I have been punished for it! No; my punishment, my real punishment is to-night, is now!

Planescape: Torment ends with the Nameless One accepting death, willing to pay the price for the countless deaths that have fueled his immortality. The last we see of him is in Hell, witnessing an ongoing conflict of the Blood War.

Dangan Ronpa: After the class correctly accuses Owada of murdering Fujisaki, his Villainous Breakdown is most sympathetic, to the point that it was cut from the anime entirely. He puts up very little defense, fully accepting his punishment because he believes he should atone for his actions.

In the Futurama episode "300 Big Boys", Bender steals a very expensive cigar. As the other stories resolve themselves at the end, Bender has the nagging feeling that something is missing. When the police arrest him for the theft, he triumphantly shouts, "All right! Closure!"

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